July 4th 2012 Fun!

Despite having the 4th fall on a Wednesday this year, and no extra days off work, we still managed to pack in lots of celebration time!

We started off Tuesday night with a celebration in Garner. It's an annual event, but we've never been in town to attend. It was sooo much fun! There were bounce houses galore, which made one happy girl. The struggle was the 100+ degree temperatures!!! The heat didn't stop Camille from bouncing her heart out!

After lots of bouncing, we headed to the art/craft table. Camille enjoyed coloring and putting together a pinwheel.

Chick Fil A was even there handing out cow fans! Camille got a kick out of those!

Since the celebration was at the park, we couldn't resist the playground though we were pouring sweat and ready to eat!

Next up, our picnic dinner, homemade ice cream, and relaxing as the sun went down (finally)!

The weather turned on us after dinner, so we had to head home before the fireworks started, but luckily, we live close enough to the park that we got to watch them from the back deck. Camille wasn't interested at first, but when she found out that it meant staying up past bedtime, she was ready! She loved commenting on the "pretty colors" and "lots of sparkly."

On the actual 4th of July, we headed downtown for more celebrating. The thunderstorms forced us to eat an early dinner and hang out inside, but afterward we got to enjoy some music and got to see a really neat free fall paratrooper team perform. Very impressive! Camille's reaction: "Those boys bumped their heads and then jumped out of the plane." We even witnessed a hot dog eating contest. Luckily I turned away with Camille as the first guy was blowing chunks. Camille thought it was funny to watch "people eat so fast."

On Friday, we got a visit from Dad and the gang. We had a good dinner with everyone and had Daniel come back home with us to spend the night and go to the lake.

On Saturday, we had a great visit to the lake and Camille loved having Daniel to play with.

After Daniel went home, Camille decided to be PawPaw's best buddy for the evening.

So, all in all, we had a great family filled weekend.

Wrightsville Beach Trip June 2012

A bit belated on posting this... but we had a long weekend in Wrightsville Beach a couple of weekends ago with our friends, The Gardner's. We found a cute little duplex that was across the street from the beach access. It was so nice to be able to walk to & from the beach. Camille & her buddy Mary had a wonderful time playing together indoors & outdoors!

The girls were so cute on the beach. It helped that we had PERFECT weather. It was a bit chilly in the morning and then tolerable heat by mid day. Camille & Mary loved to have snack time on the beach.

The girls loved looking at all the boats on the waterway, so it was nice to take walks across the bridge in the evenings. One evening the girls (and guys) happened to dress alike!

On our last day, we drove in to Wilmington to have lunch on the boardwalk and watch the boats. Camille & Mary were so cute together!

Days as a Cuddlebug....

Camille is loving being in the Cuddlebug Class with Mrs. Brenda. She is doing so many big girl activities and enjoying making new friends with the older girls. Mrs. Brenda is so good at taking pictures to send to us parents throughout the month. Camille stays very busy in her class, but always makes time to be silly with her best buddy, Madelyn.

who needs the mr. potato head?

painting blue whales....

puzzle time

Smelling honeysuckle and jasmine after a nature walk.

getting a kick out of riding in the baby stroller

Camille and friends after making doggies from a poptart box. They even had leashes!

Watercolors! 

playing dress up

Camille praying after music class.

Water play day!



Memorial Day 2012

It is always nice to have a long weekend :) We took advantage of the extra day to pack in double the family time.

We started our weekend early with a trip to Wilkesboro to see Michael graduate from high school on Friday evening. Camille enjoyed the first part of the ceremony and even waited for the crowd to silence before asking "Where's Michael? I can't see him." That got some chuckles from the audience. After a few speeches, Camille decided she had had enough sitting still and needed to go outside with her daddy.

Poppy then treated us all for dinner that evening. I think we had payback for keeping Camille up past 9 and making her wait to eat.... when we got to the hotel around 9:30, Camille was wired! She even yelled out to a man in the lobby calling him "Pops" since he was bald and gray :) She ran up and down the halls and wanted to jump on the beds once we got to our room. Man, we were exhausted. Here is our little ball of energy at 10pm on Friday when she finally calmed down enough to sit in her own bed :)

We got a bit of a break that morning when Camille slept past 9am!!! Here is a picture we snuck of her that morning. Good thing she had her own bed, as she sure likes to take up as much space as possible!

After Marla prepared a big breakfast for us, we headed to visit Gran in the nursing home. Camille helped boost her spirits by singing a belated "Happy Birthday to you." She found Gran's birthday balloon to be quite entertaining, as well as the cheerios Gran had stashed.

After leaving Wilkesboro, we stopped by the new Tanger Outlets in Mebane. I have wanted to stop and check them out for months now, but time wouldn't allow until now. They were huge and had some really nice stores.... I of course was most interested in Ann Taylor Loft... Here is Camille trying on a hat while Mommy shopped.

After getting back home with time to wash clothes, unpack, and repack, we got a good night's sleep and then headed to the lake first thing Sunday morning to stay with Nick's parents. It was especially fun with cousins Emily, Jacob, and Lucas there to play. We had great weather and spent most of our time Sunday and part of Monday outdoors. We took lots of boat rides and watched Emily ski, tube, and then do it all over again.... she is the water sports champion. Camille even decided that she liked tubing! She went on three rides, twice with Nick and once with Abraham. Both times she just laid back with no fear. She even laughed when they would bounce or get splashed. I was nervous enough for the both of us I guess. Unforunately, we didn't any pictures at the lake since were busy chasing Camille and lathering up with sunscreen. I have a feeling there will be more tube rides this summer, so I will make sure to document in the future!

Mother's Day 2012

Here are a few pictures from Mother's Day, though I wish I would have taken more....

We started our day with the early service at church, followed by lunch with Nick's parents at a new place in Angier- The Villa DiMaio... which is where all these pictures were taken.

We then ventured to Sanford for some quality time with Mimi at the park... Camille then got to have a nature walk/ride at Aunt Jeannine's... followed by a delicious dinner made by Grandpa Bill and Uncle Mitch :)

Strawberry Picking

Last Saturday, we headed to Porter Farms for our 2nd year of strawberry picking with the Craig's. It was funny to witness Camille & Madelyn's behavior this year vs. last. Last year they kept eating all of the strawberries out of the bucket, but were very interested in the whole process, though somewhat confused.

This year, the girls grabbed their buckets are were ready to go, but quickly decided they would rather run up and down the rows of strawberries instead of assisting with the picking.

The girls did take a few minutes to help us pick. Camille did a great job at picking the bright red ones, though she preferred for Daddy to pick them and then she would put them in her basket. I guess it was less dirty that way :)

The girls made sure to take a few breaks every now and then too....

Nick enjoyed getting some hold time in the patch...

The best buddies....



And of course we made time for ice cream afterward, after all, its tradition! :)

Hard to believe how much changes in a year.....

5 Years of Marriage....

This past weekend, Nick and I celebrated 5yrs of marriage. It is so hard to believe that it has already been five years, but we've stayed quite busy since then!

We got to celebrate in a special way as we witnessed my best friend from childhood get married the day before... How special to get to share in her wedding, as we remembered our vows five years ago. Here is a picture of the bride and groom.

And here are a few others we took during the festivities leading up to the big day.

We did get some down time after the wedding.... we treated ourselves to some good meals and even a trip to the spa for some massages!

While we enjoyed the weekend away, we certainly missed Camille, so as soon as we got home, we planned a fun family outing to the park and then treated ourselves to ice cream and snow cones. (A big thanks to John & Aya and Rita & Alex for watching our sweet girl while we were gone!)